Friday, September 18, 2009

Beyond the Overlap

The fact of the matter is that this post has been a long time coming. Christie and I first talked about guest posting for each other around a year ago, or at the very least some lengthy duration that afforded us a year's worth of opportunities for less talking and more writing. Thankfully this is one of those occasions where it matters more that you got there than it does the way you went or how long it took. Sort of like getting a GED or having your first threesome.

Now that I'm here, what to write about? Your average guest contributor is rife with unfamiliarity as far as the audience is concerned, making it easy to work the "about me" angle, or perhaps introduce yourself anecdotally. Such is not the case on this page. I already know most of you, Christie's readers, and you know all about me. I'm the guy overly-versed in sarcasm, unwanted mental imagery, and boob euphemisms. And unlike most blog swappers, she and I don't have several degrees of social and personal separation between our lives. We are an "us". Both our names are on the checks, the house, and more bills than I care to be reminded of. I mean c'mon -- our fucking genetic material is bonded and completely responsible for the creation of two amazingly weird kids. So you see, my molecules and her molecules are too far up in each other's business to feign any ignorance whatsoever.

But that doesn't mean one of us begins where the other ends either. Whether you believe in opposites attracting or that love is best sowed on the fertile plain of common ground, most couples actually land somewhere in between. A truth I'm happy about since I'd rather be kept guessing, and besides, you can only have so many similarities with your partner before the whole thing starts to feel like you're basically sleeping with yourself. Which is only awesome if you're not a dude.

This got me thinking about how all those likes/dislikes are in some respect a sort of "fingerprint" for the relationship, and where most people might see a neatly-ordered list in their head, I saw a Venn diagram. Which then magically leapt from my brain onto the computer, for the sole purpose of being shared with you here today.

Our Relationship Fingerprint(click image for larger version)

Update: Christie said I had to take "anal" off of the diagram unless I was willing to move it from her side and into the middle. Point taken.